When I was younger, I was picked on by most of my classmates and peers. Weird right? Considering how awesome I am now, lol. (I don’t want this to become a sad story so I needed to add a bit of humor before I got into the grit of this story.)

One day in the cafeteria for lunch, one of my classmates decided that it would be funny to flip a cafeteria table. This particular table was the one that I was sitting at. I was unaware of what was going on because I was busy eating. While I was preoccupied she flipped the table and me with it. My back hit the tile and the top of the table landed on my chest and all of my food spilled onto my white blouse. This was one of the most embarrassing days of my life. I can still remember my blurred vision due to the tears that were forming in my eyes while I looked at the people standing around me laughing and pointing instead of helping to lift the table off of me. I went home that day and cried, cried, took a nap, and cried some more. Now years later, I still get emotional thinking about it. However, the sense of pity I once felt for myself is now replaced with sadness for how heartless kids can be.

I can tell you countless stories about the things that I endured in school. But it wasn’t until today that I had an epiphany. I saw a video clip from the talk show, ‘The Talk’. In the clip Sheryl Underwood says some things that you and I can use in our lives. The things that I endured in school were only small snapshots to a greater picture. All of the times that I was laughed at or talked about were only pushing me towards a greater gift. “There’s purpose in the pain”. See, I went on to become the Valedictorian of my graduating class, served as president of a few organizations, scored the highest ever ACT score recorded at my graduating high school to this day, and many more blessings. One of my favorite bible verses says, “All things work together for the good of those that love the Lord.” I truly believe that, and even now when I face hard times, I repeat that verse over and over in my head to serve as a reminder.

We may be bruised for a moment, but we aren’t broken.